Vlambeer showed off the latest version of their procedurely generated game, Nuclear Throne today on-stage at EGX.

The talk was mainly on how the game did ‘random’ and how it worked to make the game what it was. Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with mutants, the game itself has been many years in development, originally conceived during a MoJam and having been called Wasteland Kings originally until last year when they announced a name change. There are currently eleven different characters to play and unlock and each stage is randomly generated, as are the loot, the enemies, the power-ups/mutations available when enough radiation is collected from drops and fallen enemies.

The levels themselves are generated through programs called ‘workers’ who perform actions based on a series of numbers fed to them to carve out the levels for the players. They also determine where loot gets placed and chests, with enemy and explosive barrel placement happening after the ‘workers’ have done their job. There are 7 worlds, over 30 different mutations which can benefit or hinder, and the game has so far been updated most Saturdays for the last 40 or so weeks.

Vlambeer said at the end of their panel that a new character called Rogue was coming soon, as well as a new Oasis world type. There will also be leaderboards added, after-game (or after-Throne) content and more to come.

At EGX today, Steve Papoutsis took the stage to present Battlefield Hardline. Steve is the General Manager of Visceral Games as well as Executive Producer of Battlefield Hardline. He took a somewhat different approach to his presentation, choosing to focus on his childhood and his life as a video game developer. It was an interesting talk, leading up to a trailer for Battlefield Hardline’s Hotwire Mode. This is a car centric mode which Steve described as “mobile domination”. The trailer and presentation are below.

At EGX today,

One of the games that was talked about today in a dev session on stage at EGX was Until Dawn by Supermassive Games, a choice-driven horror game with narrative determined by the choices made.

Taking place in a remote mountain getaway, Until Dawn is the story of 8 friends who need to survive a night of terror as they are stalked by a mysterious ‘Psycho’ character. Using what we were told is being called the ‘Butterfly Effect’ we are told that we can affect how the story progresses by choices in which way we want the story to go, by examining items picked up closer, whether we pick up items at all and even in the choices of how to continue conversations between characters. Some choices are even timed, which adds pressure to the situation (although if you don’t choose something in time, there is a third action that will take place instead).

Interaction icons only appear in the line of sight of the character, and conversations can change based on how what the character has found out. If you’ve missed something then it won’t suddenly pop up in the cutscenes. The clues found as to what is going on can also be discovered about the game and will be kept in a ‘Clue Line’ so you can see what has already been found out. Anyone and everyone can survive until the end, but anyone and everyone can die and once a character is dead they are dead in that playthrough for good.

Until Dawn will be released sometime in 2015 exclusively for the Playstation 4.

Tom Clancy games come with a certain set of expectations- fluid tactical combat, third person perspective- and often gamers associate this franchise with innovations in stealth and third person combat. It seems like the newest entry in the legacy of Tom Clancy will deliver. The Division, an online only third person shooter /RPG ,is a stunning game set in beautiful urban vistas with a dark undertone which comes with the theme. The game is set in pandemic New York where you play as an agent trained to deal with said pandemic.

The talk at EGX this year was about their attempts to make The Division an immersive game and so far all the signs are positive. They have gone to what appear to be huge lengths to make the game responsive, engaging and visceral. The new Snowdrop engine which has been developed for the new generation and specifically The Division is based on creating ‘living worlds’ that feel real and almost like they’re breathing around you.

The Division’s main focus seems to of been seamlessly blending responsive and futuristic tactical views with a lavishly reimagined New York where the environment changes and breaks around you. A small detail that was mentioned as an example is when it is snowing in the game snow gathers on the players shoulders and slowly melts when the players go indoors- this is just an example of the attention to detail the development team is boasting about and to me it sounds like they’ve given this everything to make it immersive and to make it feel strong, real.

The talk also focused on how they wanted to avoid the use of cutscenes, instead using a futuristic UI to feed you interactive information and even removing the conventional map and instead having what they call the mega map which is like a hologram that displays around the player model and allows you to interact with what appears to be a 3D model of New York to set markers, plan routes and prepare yourself for the challenges of a pandemic torn New York.

Another point that was made in the talk today is that the Division apparently has a phenomenal destruction engine within the game which sounds promising and like the team behind the Division really want you to be able to break up the world around you to suit your needs.

Do you think developer Massive is onto a winner? Let us know in the comments below!

At the EGX conference, Creative Assembly revealed their take on the critically acclaimed franchise with their latest game; Alien: Isolation. At the conference itself, we learned that Creative have spared no expense in creating an almost living, breathing replica of the 1979 Horror film. By digging deep into the 20^th Century Fox archives, CA have managed not only to find enough pictures of the original cast to rebuild the characters in a very well rendered style, but they have also managed to find the original analogue recordings of the soundtrack and sound effects. These finds have allowed CA to create a very impressive world that does a very good job of mimicking the tense, atmospheric feel that Alien delivered when it first hit the screens. CA stressed that they had spent a very long time replicating and expanding every detail of the film into the game, and this is shown in how even the everyday items like calendars are in the same place and position that they were to be found in the game.

One of the main points that came across during the stream was their emphasis on sound. CA talked about how sound made up a third of a good gaming experience, and they wanted to create  a game with sound that evoke a subconscious emotional reaction from the player as well as music that would fit the horror theme and keep the player on edge without exhausting them. Alien: Isolation features a newly built context driven sound engine. That is to say, a sound engine that will change and adapt the music within the game based on events that play out as you traverse the newly designed ship “the Sevastopol”. The sound (adapted from the original soundtrack with some tracks from the film added in for good measure) will change in volume, pitch and even climax as the Alien hunts you down and attempts to dispatch you.

This brings me onto the third aspect of the game discussed at the conference; the stealth. Gameplay footage played during the stream showed the player (revealed as Ellen Ripley) creeping through an abandoned ship. As as the Xenomorph is constantly hunting you, you must avoid him by remaining quiet, hiding under desks or in lockers; even crafting improvised weapons to distract him quickly become necessary to complete the puzzles you are presented with and to ultimately stay alive throughout the game .The music is low and ambient, portraying a feeling of being hunted, like the Xenomorph is coming personally for you, despite the fact that there are multiple androids and other human’s on board. These other characters will often hinder you, either acting aggressively or causing a commotion, which inevitably attracts the Xenomorph to your location. Whilst on the subject of mechanics and gameplay, CA has informed us that they are working with Oculus to bring Alien: Isolation to the Rift, allowing the player to fully immerse themselves in the Alien world. Pre-order content has also been made available, however CA says that it will be purely additional content separate from the main body of the game.

Are you ready to take on Xenomorphs in their latest digital outing? Let us know in the comments below!